With the Congress-led coalition facing flak from both friends and foes of the United Progressive Alliance and supporting Left parties which have called bandhs in states ruled by them, Gandhi suggested to Congress chief ministers to lower sales tax on petroleum items. Congress is in power in around half a dozen states, prominent among them being Maharashtra, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana.
Unrest in Kashmir and Commonwealth Games preparations are expected to find a mention when Congress President Sonia Gandhi addresses a meeting of Congress Parliamentary Party in New Delhi on Thursday.
The question is not when but who after Dr Manmohan Singh? Will an alternative to Dr Singh emerge from within the Congress? Or will a government be formed by regional parties supported by the BJP or Congress from outside? Or will India have mid-term elections? Whatever be the combination, Jaya has emerged as a crucial player in the current political context, says M R Venkatesh.
Declaring that the Prime Ministerial candidate of the Third Front would be decided after the elections, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati hosted a dinner for the leaders of the grouping and resolved to defeat the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Deomocratic Alliance.
The Trinamool Congress' rally in Maoist-affected Lalgarh had its echo in Parliament on Monday with members of the Left seeking to know the Centre's stand on the alleged hobnobbing of the United Progressive Alliance ally with the extremists, dubbing the meeting as an "anti-national activity".
Congress on Tuesday downplayed the issue of United Progressive Alliance ally Trinamool absenting itself from both houses of Parliament as the government battled opposition over NCTC with the help of Samajawadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party which did the rescue act.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M Karunanidhi on Wednesday sought the Centre's intervention in making Tamil a language of the court in Madras high court.
The way things are going, India may have a no-limits free-for-all political contest rather than a three-horse race. Parties are approaching one another across the dividing lines of alliances, breaching conventional rules of the political game.
"The Congress-led UPA government is committed towards one objective -- to destroy each and every Constitutional authority in the country for its own narrow political gain," BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar told reporters in New Delhi.
Mamata Banerjee, who had pulled out of UPA-II over FDI in retail, among other issues, would dedicate mall to people of Kolkata.
Promising swift and fitting punishment for the Delhi gang-rape accused, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said the nation's 'beloved daughter' will get justice and her fight will not go in vain.
National Advisory Committee-pushed plan might be part of Budget 2013-14.
In a shocking incident, a Samajwadi Party member stunned the Lok Sabha on Wednesday afternoon snatching the copy of the quota in promotion bill from Minister V Narayanasamy and was sought to be thwarted by Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
Despite claims of an 'austerity drive' by the United Progressive Alliance government and the Congress party, some Union ministers appeared to prefer upmarket accommodation during their official visits to the United States.
He also said the tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress is just an 'adjustment'.
Almost without exception, all ministers from non-Congress coalition partners of the UPA have been behaving as though they are a law unto themselves.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the misuse of the Central Bureau of Investigation by the Congress led-United Progressive Alliance government.
Yoga guru Baba Ramdev on Saturday said the United Progressive Alliance has lost its "moral authority" to continue in power after the Supreme Court cancelled 122 spectrum licences given to telecom operators and alleged that the Congress was after him since he started his campaign on black money issue.
Trinamool Congress, which had earlier been ambiguous on the rule under which the debate on Foreign Direct Investment should take place, on Tuesday moved a motion in Rajya Sabha seeking discussion with voting. "This House disapproves the entry of FDI in multi-brand retail," read the motion moved by Trinamool members D Bandopadhyay and Vivek Gupta under Rule 168, which entails voting.
What is most troubling is that not a single party that is part of INDIA has talked about any kind of reform and economic sense, argues R Jagannathan.
The much-awaited second State Reorganisation Commission might not see the light of day during the United Progressive Alliance regime. A significant section of the Congress leadership is not keen on setting up the panel to avoid fuelling the agitation for carving out a separate state of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday announced the formation of a seven-party rainbow alliance for the April 24 Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu, in its first-ever such electoral venture in the state where the turf has been largely dominated by Dravida Munetra Kazhagam and All India Anna Dravida Munetra Kazhagam.
On the eve of winter session of Parliament, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday alleged that the United Progressive Alliance government is pursuing anti-people economic policies like allowing FDI in multi-brand retail and, therefore, has no moral right to continue in office.
Adopting a wait and watch approach, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Tuesday said the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam stand on Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee-proposed no-confidence motion against the United Progressive Alliance government would be decided based on numbers.
Realising that the numbers are stacked in favour of the government, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday appeared reluctant to support the no-confidence motion that the Trinamool Congress has threatened to move against the ruling United Progressive Alliance, but is gearing up to corner it on the issue of Foreign Direct Investment in retail by seeking a vote on it.
"TMC doesn't have the numbers and will depend on other parties' support. Despite that, if the TMC leadership decides to go ahead, they should be prepared for whatever the consequences may be," BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi cautioned.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday reached out to Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati ahead of winter session of Parliament, but she remained evasive on her party's stand on plans by Trinamool Congress to bring a motion against Foreign Direct Investment.
The Ulema Council, which recently staged protests against what it termed as "harassment" of Muslim youths in the name of terror, declared on Turesday that it would field candidates against Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul in the upcoming Lok Sabha election.
Amid concerns within the party over 'limitations' in a coalition government, top Congress leaders including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi will discuss threadbare future strategies during a day-long session on .
Political parties, including United Progressive Alliance ally Trinamool Congress, on Thursday night cried foul after the Rajya Sabha failed to pass the Lokpal Bill terming it as a "black day" for democracy and the Opposition demanded the resignation of the government for losing "political and moral authority".
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday accused the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government of acting in an "irresponsible and childish" manner on the Telangana issue and maintained that delay in formation of the state would harm the interest of both Andhra Pradesh and the Telangana region.
According to the latest head count by Congress's managers, the United Progressive Alliance has only 271 seats in the Lok Sabha, though the requisite majority in the 545-member House is 273. For the ruling party, the issue is not about saving the government, but about crossing the majority mark to send the decisive signal that the UPA enjoys a clear majority and has the moral right to continue in power, say sources.
Placing her bets on the ongoing power projects, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Wednesday said the acute power crisis in Tamil Nadu would end completely in 2013 with an addition of over 4,000 MW.
The overall breadth was negative as 14,690 stocks declined while 1,141 stocks advanced.
Taking a swipe at United Progressive AllianceChairperson Sonia Gandhi's recent visit to Dakshin Kannada, former Chief Minister and state Janata Dal-Secular President H D Kumaraswamy on Monday claimed the Congress in Karnataka has no political strategy in place to win next year's assembly election and JD-S is the real opposition party which could address people's problems.
The Bill envisages an authority to promote old-age income security by establishing, developing and regulating pension funds, to protect the interest of subscribers of pension funds.
With President Pranab Mukherjee accepting the resignations of seven Cabinet ministers late on Saturday evening, the reshuffle is expected to see the induction of at least 12 ministers, most of them being younger in age. There will be a conscious effort to ensure that Cabinet has a younger profile
In a reply to a question on whether he will be United Progressive Alliance's prime ministerial candidate in the coming Lok Sabha elections, Gandhi said, "I have answered this question many times in the past. Dr Manmohan Singh is the Prime Minister from the Congress and UPA."
With pressure mounting on the Centre for enacting a strong anti-graft legislation, Home Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday said the Lokpal Bill will "certainly" be introduced in the Winter Session of Parliament.
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